Lesniak Votes Against Treasurer Who Won’t Back Business Tax Breaks

TRENTON – On Monday, the state Senate approved the nomination of Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff as state treasurer over the objection of Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union)

Lesniak, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, initially supported the nomination. However, when the senator decided that Sidamon-Eristoff didn’t support the idea of targeted tax cuts for businesses, he dropped his support.

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“We cannot survive as a state and we can’t grow economically without targeted tax cuts,” Lesniak said. “This nominee has not shown me a willingness to support targeted tax cuts.”

Senate Republican leader Tom Kean (R-Union) defended the nomination.
“We’ve had treasurers who have testified before budget committees in past years who said the state’s citizens were not suffering under high taxes,” Kean said. “We‘ve had treasurers who said taxes did not harm business. We had mistakes made in years past. This treasurer brings to the job a commitment that taxes on the hardworking citizens of the state should be lowered.”

Gov. Chris Christie, who nominated Sidamon-Eristoff as treasurer, has pledged to cut taxes he sees as hindering economic development in the state.